Exactly a year ago, we released our first edition of the inspirational individuals you must follow on LinkedIn Malaysia for 2018. As we are making this effort as part of our annual must-do lists, our editorial team compiled a list of 100 inspiring individuals on LinkedIn Malaysia, in no particular order who are positively impacting the community through the world’s largest professional platform.
Despite majority of them aren’t household names (yet), they are already a game changer, and the real-life Avengers in their very own way. To honour and celebrate their remarkable contributions, at Marketing In Asia, we are proud to have their names and short profiles highlighted here. We highly recommend you to follow them on LinkedIn for 2019.
Koh Mui Han, Principal Consultant at ChangeDynamics Consulting. Currently he is leading a successful management consulting practice with the focus on human capital, strategy and change consulting. Prolific facilitator in emotional intelligence programs for sales driven organisations. Mui Han also is the CEO of Top Voices Malaysia, a LinkedIn micro influencers group.
Noor Shahiwan, Managing Director of Suncrox Solar, a social enterprise company. When most of the industry players are tapping the massive growth of solar farm and grid tie system, he chose to follow the root cause of energy poverty by innovating in solar applications and installation procedures. As a strong believer in social entrepreneurship, Shahiwan is actively promoting solar technology to provide needs of electricity for the developing countries under SUNCROX SOLAR. With more than 60 solar projects completion including rural, agricultural, resort and commercial in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar, Suncrox Solar is implementing cross-subsidisation model where profit from commercial projects are channelled to subsidise social initiatives up to 100%.
Vishen Lakhiani, Founder of Mindvalley, an award-winning education movement with over 5 million students worldwide. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, now translated into 20+ languages.
Saw Ann Ping, Partner at the Agensi Pekerjaan Symphony Search. She is an ex-banker who has passions in entrepreneurship especially in the area of recruitment.
Jonathan Low, CEO of Global Success Learning Academy. A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and one of Asia leading Sales & Service Mastery & Leadership Success Coach, Jonathan has successfully delivered his high energy, fun and highly engaging keynotes or workshops to international participants. Jonathan is also a Certified Identi3 Consultant, Marshall Goldsmith SCC and a Global Canfield Methodology Trainer.
Ishak Karim, Senior Development Manager at Infineon Technologies. Besides focusing on his technical expertise such as Yield Engineering, Statistical Data Analysis, Electrical and Physical Failure Analysis, Ishak’s passions also include Project Management, Technical Training, Public Speaking and Mentoring.
Dr. Wendy Liew, Founder of The Image Creator. Profoundly passionate in what Wendy does, she has been awarded as the 101 Top Global Training & Development Minds 2019, Women Super Achiever 2019 for Excellence in Education, Coaching & Consulting, Distinguished Trainer 2019 and Coaching & Development Leadership 2019 in Mumbai, India with other eminent achievers from all over the world. Besides, she is one of only 19 selected winners of ‘Women Icons Malaysia 2018’ by BERG Singapore and one of the ‘The 100 Most Influential Young Entrepreneur’ in 2017. She is also a Certified Image Consultant, a Licensed Practitioner of NLP, a Certified Business Etiquette & Protocol Consultant, a Certified Luxury Brand Management Consultant, Certified Men’s Wear Consultant, a professional make-up & hairstyling instructor and an author.
Prof Dr Noor Azizi Ismail, Vice Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. Prior to helming UMK, he was the Deputy Director General of Higher Education at the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
Freda Liu, Lead Producer and Presenter at BFM89.9 the Business Station, which targeted at SMEs and managers. She has interviewed top icons such as Tony Buzan, Isaac Tigrett (the Founder of Hard Rock Cafe), Robert Kiyosaki, Julian Assange and Stephen R Covey to name a few.
Kid Chan, Founder and Executive Director of KidChan Studio. He was named by Asia Regional and Malaysia Tatler magazines as one of the 100 People You Must Know in Asia at age 26 and Malaysian Business named him as one of the 30 Successful Under 40 Self Made Malaysians. He is instrumental for the personal brand positioning of many regional uber high profile personalities locally and abroad. His photography work is often published on various prestigious publications including The Star, New Straits Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Prestige, Tatler and Millionaireasia.
Gopi Ganesalingam, Vice President of the Enterprise Development for the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). A name that most technopreneurs are familiar with, Gopi contributes significantly in the area of developing Malaysian tech companies into regional and global players. His experience and background in holding many key positions have enabled him to play such a significant role in MDEC. His epic article ‘Why ASEAN companies need to be Storytellers‘ was an eye opener for many.
Cheryl Witha, a Lecturer at INTI International University. Cheryl is a passionate educator who believes that she can not only empower individuals, but also uses her ‘superpowers’ diligently to change the world. She believes that it is essential for students to strike a balance between academic theories and practicality, hence the set up of Lift As You Rise Platform to expose students to a world outside their comfort zone and to give ownership to students to affect change. You can check out numerous campaigns held such as Enuff Said!, Safety Driving Campaign, Orang Asli Media Workshop to the Lift As You Rise forum to Commers Beats that encourages students to discuss current issues via a round-table discussion.
Shadaitul Intan M Zin, Founder of Profound Learning Solutions. Shadaitul Intan is very passionate about making a difference and see positive changes in people – so that they will have a better mindset and attitude, higher emotional intelligence and better way of connecting with others for better productivity and better life. She has conducted workshops for more than 10,000 participants from various background – from students, teachers, fresh graduates all the way to the executives and Managers from the private sector.
Jazz Tan, CEO and Founder of YouthsToday.com. She is an award winner of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, Top 40 under 40 Prestige Magazine and the Best ICT in ASEAN region. Leading the largest youth online engagement platform in Malaysia, Jazz is a social entrepreneur, strategist and an inspirational figure to set course and help young people to thrive at their fullest potential.
Gholamali (Alish) Shamskhoozani, Host of LinkedInLocal Kuala Lumpur. Alish believes that being active in the digital world alone isn’t enough. People need opportunity to network offline and get to know other people in real world. That’s why he decided to join the global movement of LinkedInLocal and lead the Kuala Lumpur team to help professionals and students across Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur and suburbs) to expand their professional network offline.
Hanie Razaif-Bohlender, General Manager and Executive Director of Dragonfire Corporate Solutions. Dragonfire is a management consulting and HR firm based in Kuala Lumpur. Known as a Career Doctor, Hanie is a certified Stratpad Business Coach, Associate- Emergenetics and Assessor/Internal Verifier, Pearson BTEC L5 Qualification in Business . She is also a member of the Industry Advisory Board of Monash University School of Business, and sits on Dragon Panels that provide practical, real-world project feedback to graduating marketing students.
Dr Frank J. Peter, International Speaker and Corporate Trainer at Asia Training. Dr Frank has over a decade of experience in applying and teaching cutting edge digital transformation and digital marketing techniques, from digitising company processes to digital marketing subjects. He is also a certified Google Educator.
Dr Mazlan Abbas, Co-Founder and CEO of FAVORIOT Sdn Bhd. He is ranked Top 10 in IoT Top 100 Influencers by Postscapes portal. Dr Mazlan was also named as one of the Top 20 Global Thought Leaders on the Internet of Things by Thinkers360, ranked 20th Thought Leader in IOT by Onalytics Report “The Internet of Things – Top 100 Thought Leaders, ranked among 50 Most Impactful Smart Cities Leaders by World CSR Congress and a UTM Alumni Industry Personality. He is currently one of Global Vision Board Member as well. Before Favoriot, he spent 2.5 years as CEO of REDtone IOT and 8 years in MIMOS Berhad as Senior Director Wireless Communications Cluster.
Rayyan Irwan, General Manager for Talent Pipeline and Development at Domino’s Pizza Malaysia and Singapore. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business with a specialisation in Project Management from the University of Southern Queensland Australia and a certified HRDF Trainer too.
Suraya Kulop Abdul Rahman, one of the Secretariat committee members for the APEC2020 at Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia. She is leading the APEC2020 team members in coordinating action towards organising the global forum where Malaysia will play host in 2020. The tasks include all the details relating to the participation of more than 15,000 delegations and 130 meetings comprising of senior government officials, ministers and political leaders.
Roberto Cumaraswasmy, Founder and CMO On Demand at RC. Roberto is a passionate marketer, speaker and trainer with more than 22 years of experience at a senior management level across a range of industries like Education, Telco, FMCG, Cosmetics & Beauty, Consulting and Startups. Being a multi-generational marketer, he is able to blend the ‘test, measure, iterate’ style of digital marketing with ‘long term brand-build’ fundamentals to develop a customer focused, measurable and sustainable strategy that delivers growth.
Nik Hasyudeen, Founder of Inovastra Capital. He is one of the most sought after individuals when it comes to regulatory-related subjects. Nik Hasyudeen is very passionate in contributing at the leadership level of organisations towards achieving sustainable value creation and serving their stakeholders too. Such passion is the result of the cumulation of commercial, regulatory and professional experiences over the years of his career.
Xavier Mah, PR and Branding strategist, Contributing Writer and Founder of Xavier Mah Consultancy and luxury bespoke footwear label, XALF. Xavier kick-started his consultancy at just 26 years of age and has serviced clients from Property, Beauty, F&B, Lifestyle & Fashion industries. A master in the art of marketing and communications, Xavier has worked with brands and the media from numerous industries and has successfully brought unknown brands from the ground up to being known by the intended market. Through the many hurdles and his unwavering passion, Xavier was shortlisted for the EY Entrepreneur of The Year Award 2017 in Emerging Category, Grandeur International Business Awards 2017/2018 and a Finalist at the Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian Awards 2017.
Dr Rezal Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer of NanoMalaysia. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from University College London, University of London.
Khushboo Nangalia, CEO of BEYOND99. Started as early as 17 and with over a decade of experience, Khushboo has a reputation as one of the most dynamic and accomplished young innovators and leaders under 30 in the increasingly important area of digital brand marketing. A member of the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Malaysia (NAWEM), she was awarded as the 100 Most Influential Youth Marketing Leader, Top 9 Marketers to Follow in Malaysia and TEDx speaker on ‘Power of Business Storytelling’ in 2018. Besides that, Khushboo was also nominated for ‘Global Visionary Award’ by Vision World Academy and became the youngest invited member of ’Top Voices Malaysia’ – 30 Most Influential People on LinkedIn.
A J Minai, CMO of Subture: The Brand Storytelling Agency. Considered by many in Asia as a Master Storyteller, Dr. A.J has spoken at over 180 events since 2013 around Brand Leadership, Inter-Generational (Gen XYZ) Dynamics, Digital Disruption, and Workplace E.Q (Emotional Intelligence). A two-time TEDx speaker since 2017, Dr. A.J was awarded “Best LinkedIn Influencer” by Malaysia Social Media Week (#MSMW2019). Marketing In Asia Magazine listed him as one of the Top 43 Inspirational LinkedIn Icons to follow in 2018. He was also invited to be a member of ‘Top Voices Malaysia’ – 30 Most Influential People on LinkedIn. Before becoming the serial entrepreneur he is today, Dr. A.J came from 12 years of industry experience having interacted with brands like Google, Allianz, Legrand, MarcusEvans, Tune Group, and many more. He now spends his time as a venture-builder, futurist, & most importantly a storyteller who’s on a mission to disrupt people’s mindsets as opposed to just their business models.
Emilia Zainol, Managing Director of Q3 Management Solutions Sdn Bhd and QImage Consulting. A dedicated speaker, Emilia is the epitome of a business transformer; she has been helping companies translate their best ideas into bottom-line results quickly, efficiently, and effectively by giving outside perspectives, unbiased analyses, and specialised support in all areas of management systems.
M. Zulkifli Abd Jalil, Editorial Director at The Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre. Zulkifli is also an author of #TheOAGStory, a former magistrate, FHM & The Malay Mail editor, Media Prima GM and “Malaysia Hari Ini” TV3 host.
Dr Sudeep Mohandass, Managing Director of I First International (IFI). Its mission is to provide top quality professional consultancy services at an affordable price to the nonprofit and social enterprise sector by providing high impact business and innovative solutions that will transform the organisation to a higher level. Anything related to NGO, Dr Sudeep is the champion.
Emi Idura Che Hashim. Founder and Principal Consultant of Top2ToeStyliesta Image Consulting. Certified internationally by London Image Institute, she was trained by Lynne Henderson Marks (AICI, CIM), a world-renown Certified Image Master by Association of Image Consultant International (AICI). With 17 years of Corporate background experiences, Emi is a Corporate Image Trainer, Celebrity Hijab Stylist & Personal Shopper to Mizz Nina, personal image branding blogger and a proud mentee to Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (UK) programme. She too earns her certification in Mastering the Universal Language of Color Analysis by Ferial Image Consulting & Training (Australia) and a Certificate in Polished Professional Program – Dining Etiquette by Charleston School of Protocol & Etiquette (United States).
Badrie Bob Abdullah, University Fellow and Chartered Fellow of CMI, Founder of BIG TULIP and Council Member at MICCI. Badrie is also the Director of Corporate and Executive Education at UUM Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business (OYAGSB) tasked to lead the Executive Education portfolio, build corporate learning partnerships, create brand visibility and enhance Global Rankings for OYAGSB-UUM. An expert in building education partnerships, Badrie too is the Founder and CEO of Centre for Leadership and People Management Malaysia Cen4LeaP, a non-profit body that acts as a Hub for high impact Leadership and Talent Management best practices through world-class collaborations. He has worked on numerous projects conceptualising and developing programs for high impact executive education and leadership development involving some of the World’s Top B Schools including INSEAD, Ashridge Business School, NUSBS, AIMWA-UWA, Cranfield, LSE and Disney Institute.
Kazi Nowrid Amin, Digital Marketing Strategist at IQI Global. A passionate digital marketer and consultant, Nowrid has excellent knowledge across all disciplines of Social Media & Digital Marketing including Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Google Paid ads, Google and Facebook Analytics, SEO, Content Marketing. Kazi Nowrid Amin is the Editor of Marketing In Asia Bangladesh too.
Alita Abdullah, Co-Founder of S&A Advanced Solutions. Alita is a creative and brilliant social media strategist and marketer with a knack for Digital Marketing and Social Media topics.
Hj Mohd Prasad Hanif, CEO of Darul Haq Sdn Bhd. An accomplished and integrity-driven professional, Prasad has seen enormous success in project management, business development, and human capital development on both national and international levels. As a savvy and charismatic leader, Prasad has also been acknowledged as a business focused professional with diverse business knowledge, experienced in various industries and propensity to fuel positive change by capitalising a strong business acumen and natural leadership talents by steering the business and team towards excellence and new directions.
Laurence Yap, OD Thought Leader. With over 20 years of experience in Human Resources and Organisation Development, Laurence is the perfect embodiment of an HR and OD leader. His passion has won him the Malaysia HR Leadership Award by MIHRM and the Global Training & Dev Award.
Johardy Ibrahim, Executive Editor at Utusan Malaysia. An inspirational writer, Johardy is also the Columnist of ‘Merrepak’? at Mingguan Malaysia.
Nina Sharil Khan, Founder and Chief Unicorn Officer of PopCon, Television Host and Emcee. After spending years in Petronas’ Corporate Planning & Business Reengineering Unit, a serendipitous event has immediately made her fall in love with Business Development and Media industry. Currently surrounded by some of Malaysia’s greatest talents and creatives, she strives to make a difference to this industry in Malaysia and the region because there is nothing more fulfilling than finding opportunities for creatives and businesses to come together.
Joy Abdullah, Strategic Marketing Leader, Co-Host of Create The Edge. He humanises business through its brand experience to create sustainable profits. He has been made one of ‘Malaysia’s 10 Most Engaged Marketing Folks on LinkedIn’ in 2015. He has also promoted business sustainability that comes from major key skills such as leadership, process-thinking, strategic partnership, and marketing and communication. He has a passion for managing disruption and creating profitability, through collaboration and co-creation, amongst employees and business partners of a brand.
Andrew Teoh, Content Creator and Editor. He is a passionate storyteller that specialises in creating contents that are able to build relations between the brand and the audience. A strong believer in sharing and advocating to crafting good contents, he goes by the mantra of ‘Value over monetisation’. He is also the Editor of Marketing In Asia Australia.
Aaron Nason, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Tech Recruitment, Content Curator. He has spent over a decade worth of work experience focusing on technical recruitment, customer service, and technical support. He trains and shares his knowledge with his written guidelines and documents to help new employees. He’s a situational leader who believes in leading by example and helping the new generation rise up to be the best that they can be. He is highly adept in systems analysis diagnostics, troubleshooting, and conflict resolution and displays excellent organisational and problem-solving skills.
Abu Bakar Yusof, Senior Director, Export Promotion and Market Access Division. He has more than 25 years of experience in the trading industry and is currently overseeing the export promotion and market access division which comprise of six sectoral and four regional market departments. His goal is to inspire local enterprises to go global and eventually enhance market access and increase exports.
Sinan Ismail, CEO of Digital Durian. Digital Durian is the creator and co-owner for Didi & Friends and Omar & Hana. Both brands are raking millions of subscribers on YouTube. Sinan is one of the instrumental individuals within the company who are establishing both brands as global brands.
Asim Qureshi, CEO and Founder of Jibble Group and Launch Pad. Launch Pad is a venture builder which Jibble and Payroll Panda is a part of among other things. He was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse but eventually decided to become an entrepreneur.
Azwan Baharuddin, Country Managing Director at Accenture and Independent Non-Executive Board Member of Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB). A natural leader, Azwan not only possesses excellent leadership qualities, but his strong interpersonal skills and unique capacity for empathy has also translated his ability to motivate a team to care about their project and be invested in the project’s success. He somehow reminds us of Nick Fury.
Dr Mohd Zulkefeli Mat Jusoh, Principal at Malaysian Academy of Pharmacy. A specialist of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry Synthesis Self-Assembly of Functional Supramolecules, Zulkefeli has a PhD in Molecular Pharmaceutical Sciences (Supramolecular Chemistry) from Hiroshima University and is a full registered pharmacist too.
Mohd Rizal Hassan, Founder, International Learning Facilitator, NLP Master Coach and Master Hypnotherapist of Take Charge Sdn Bhd. With a strong foundation in Human Resources, Rizal develops and conducts training programmes mainly on personal development, motivation, customer service, communication, sales techniques and team building. His forte in coaching and motivation has given him the chance to conduct his “Take Charge!” programme for audiences in India, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. Rizal is also an author of 2 books, ‘In Your Face (And In Your Head)’ and ‘Mudahnya Guna NLP’.
Nadiah Tan Abdullah, Chief Human Resources Officer at S P Setia Berhad. Nadiah started her career as a HR generalist. After experimenting on training and development in her 3rd year as a HR professional, she found out that she completely fell in love with the world of Organisational Development and Change Management where she could put her heart and minds in the core of what affects people and organisation. Her last 20 over years had been amazing; going through corporate chapters of setting up HR Dept, building talent pipeline, harmonisation work in mergers and acquisitions, organisational cultural transformational work, design, lead and manage people and change strategies, coaching and developing talents at leadership roles and of course always rediscovering herself.
Hj Faisal Malik, Principal at Faisal Malik & Co (FMC Group). Trained as a chartered accountant and served several multinational corporations prior venturing into business, Faisal has 20 years of international entrepreneurial and work experience in Asia and the Middle East, specialising in corporate strategy, business development, corporate learning and performance management in multiple industries such as financial services, banking and commercials. Due to his dedication and endurance, he has managed over 130 consultants and managing Net Asset Value worth more than RM150 Million. Faisal is also a founding member of Top Voices Malaysia.
Azleen Abdul Rahim, Partner at NSE. As a marketer, Azleen’s insights on marketing are not only rare but probably the best in the region. A person who prefers to write than talk, you may know him as the Editor-In-Chief for Marketing In Asia and Azleen.com; both are online magazines that share marketing ideas day-in-day-out that empowers millions of brands and people in Asia with marketing ideas for the former and empowering the local community with its Bahasa Malaysia based marketing for the latter.
Ida Hanim Schien, Program Director of Ida Hanim Asia EQ Solutions. With over 20 years of professional experience in industries such as merchant banking, stockbroking, insurance, property development, hospitality & consulting, Ida was the Founding Project Director & Subject Matter Expert in the largest career transition programme in the aviation industry in 2015. Her strong conceptual, critical and creative thinking has made her the ideal compassionate communicator and leader.
Nehsan Selvaraj, Founder and Group President of ARAM Foundation. At the age of 20, Nehsan who is a journalist and newsreader with Bernama was awarded the ‘Award of Honour’ by the Government of India at the Vision For Future 2019 held in New Delhi, India. The award was conferred by the BRICS International Forum and the International Federation of Indo-Russian Youth Club to Nehsan as an International Digital Leader for the socio-political efforts he has made. As the Director of Yayasan Aspirasi Rakyat Amalan Malaysia (ARAM), Nehsan has helped to report on social statuses of minorities in Malaysia and has organised many charitable projects under his NGO. In one such initiative in 2017, he managed to gather almost 4000 youth volunteers to rebuild 15 welfare homes and orphanages throughout the country.
Bavani Periasamy, President of the Malaysian Association of Professional Speakers (MAPS). She is known for being a gratitude advocate on LinkedIn. Her work is mostly with young adults, unemployed graduates, youth and children as she believes that if they are inspired to believe in their dreams and to believe in the power of their mind, they can all work towards capitalising on their true potential and strength and in return to pay this forward to the others in the society. A firm believer in the power of gratitude, she is always encouraging people to find blessings in life. She is also a founding member of Top Voices Malaysia.
Kuhanesapathy T, Co-Founder of Masala Wheels. It is a social entrepreneurship project to help single mothers, youth and urban poor to earn a living. Masala Wheels is not only about serving food but for the staff to also learn life skills. To date, Masala Wheels has assisted a number of troubled youth turning their life around. Besides Masala Wheels, Kuhan is also active in Purpose, a hub to grow social enterprises in Malaysia and currently serves the team under the Business Development & Strategic Planning Unit.
Johan Irwan Kamarozaman, Certified Directive Communication Trainer and Coloured Brain Communication facilitator. With his deep passion for understanding human behavior, Johan has become certified in various Internationally recognized certification such as Directive Communication Trainer (DCI), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner and CRG Assessment System. As a Certified Professional Member of the Social Affair of the Malaysian Association of Professional Speakers (MAPS), he has helped people to improve their competencies, skills in leadership and communication.
Sashikala Devi Gopallan, Director of Corporate Communication at HRDF. A strong and determined lady who has various experience in many industries and now in the human capital arena to champion talents and growth for the nation. She is also known to be LinkedIn’s 3rd Most Engaged Marketer in Malaysia and has a large following from many countries. She has also worked with other prominent MNC in the country and established herself well in the area of Public Relations.
Major Dr. Prebagaran Jayaraman, CEO of SMC Trainers Malaysia. Fondly known as Dr. Praba, he has more than 30 years of experience in the Learning & Development industry and is passionate about building people up. SMC Trainers Malaysia is focusing on helping folks who did not have the opportunity to finish tertiary education by inspiring them to pursue it while working and then to motivate them to move up in their respective career. He has helped many people to upgrade their life by providing them opportunities to excel. He strongly believes in changing people’s life through the formalisation of knowledge. He is also a founding member of Top Voices Malaysia.
Ameirul Azraie, Senior Manager, Corporate HR at PureCircle. A passionate HR professional, Ameirul has been providing HR support for PureCircle, even taking a leadership role in Malaysia Employee Benefits administration for 500 over employees as well as overseeing, managing and maintaining company HR data and HR Information Technology systems. A double Master’s degree holder with MBA from Brunel University London and M. Eng. from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, his sound HR technical knowledge, excellent academic background and social intelligence, has made Ameirul among the rising young HR leaders of his generation.
Sugunah Verumandy, Human Resources Director for Southeast Asia at Dairy Farm Group. Sugunah is very passionate about Human Resources’ strategies aligned to business needs, market dynamics and developing capabilities required for businesses and corporate in Malaysia to be successful. She strongly believes in internal and external communications and champions a lot on employees having positive experiences. She also plays a role in the community to advocate diversity and talent strategies.
James Khoo, Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer Fighter. Probably the most inspirational icon on LinkedIn, James has been fighting cancer for quite some time but that did not stop him from living his life. With over 20 years of working experience in MNC as Chief Technology Officer and R&D Director, James has been championing the digital marketing strategy and tactical plan area. A proven leader, he has coached startups to develop a business growth plan, turn-a-round business numbers and bringing them back on track.
Shahril Mokhtar, Head of Completions at Petronas. A role model in the oil and gas industry, Shahril is a person of high integrity be it professionally or personally. With his mechanical degree background and aeronautical technology knowledge, he is considerate and respectful of differences and is always open for new ideas from all the different aspects of life.
Valens Subramaniam, Founder and CEO of Rodeo. Rodeo is an OOH and digital advertising firm that has created an interactive external and in-vehicle advertising platform, making it the first of its kind in Malaysia. Valen’s work through Rodeo is helping many drivers to utilise the system and to be able to earn incentives as additional income. Valens is also a Founding Member of Top Voices Malaysia
Roshan Thiran, Founder and CEO of Leaderonomics. It is a social enterprise dedicated to democratise and provide access to leadership development for everyone, including those in rural areas and in poverty. Leaderonomics is also known for its digital pullout and many youth programs during the school breaks. Roshan spends a fair bit of time interviewing top leaders and role models in the industry both locally and internationally.
Dr Mohd Harris Ismail, CEO of Ascension Technology and Vice President of BIM Institute of Malaysia. He has been actively involved in the implementation of cutting-edge technology such as MMC (IBS) and BIM in Malaysia. His passion in advocating new technology is translated into his active involvement in providing BIM consultancy and coaching to the industry while being an IBS system provider. He speaks at various international and local events since 2012, such as GeoSmart Asia Conferences, RICS International BIM Conferences, National BIM Day (2014 to 2016), series of Lectures by PAM and many more.
Shamini Manikam, Founder of TinkTank. It is a Singapore-based company whose vision is to empower humans through tech training. She believes that ‘the purpose of our existence is to live it and to unleash the best in us by learning and sharing our experiences. As we live in a transformation era, equipping ourselves with future skills and technology is imperative to our existence‘.
Johan Ooi, Founder of Johan Speaking Academy. His passion for public speaking has led Johan to offer kids and teenagers the opportunity to learn and master real-life public speaking skills. As a natural and talented public speaker himself, he has participated in numerous public speaking competitions and won many awards including the 2015 Peninsular Malaysia Public Speaking Championship, where he was the unbeatable Champion. Johan went on to represent Malaysia in the 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas and completed the championship as a Semi-Finalist.
Bob Low, Digital Marketing Consultant and SEO Expert. Since his gig in 2011 as a digital marketer in South East Asia, Bob has worked with the likes of Mead Johnson Nutrition, Unilever, KFC, L’Oreal & Thai Odyssey on their digital and social media projects. His achievements include by leading brands like Thai Odyssey to win the Best Spa Brand 2017 by Luxury Travel Guide and started their online reservation system that generates RM6000 in reservations per day.
Jegatheeswaran Manoharan, Director at Accordia Training & Development. The first Malaysian and Asian to sit in the Board of North American Simulation & Gaming Association (NASAGA). Fondly known as Jega to his peers, his vision is to assist educators and trainers to utilise game-based learning and gamification for a more immersive classroom experience. Alongside his business partner, they now hold a yearly Conference in Malaysia called Malaysian Simulation and Gaming Conference (MASAGA) which is an interactive experience on the use of active learning methods to increase engagement, enhance retention, and improve performance.
Malar Villi, Specialist in Emotional Intelligence at Hearts & Minds Development Centre. Malar is a simple and humble person who is enthusiastic about emotional intelligence and spends many hours contributing to the community, especially for women and children. She champions resilience in women and does many events and programs to help them. Her noble wish is for individuals to live a more meaningful and fulfilled life. She says, ‘This journey, opens the door of discovering one’s authentic self and bring about positive results in their life while making the world a better place for all of us. I can’t imagine a better way to live my life‘.
Wesley Chan, Coach and Youth Influencer. Wesley has spent most of his career helping individuals and organisations break through their sales, performance and productivity by helping them master their inner game of habits. Over the course of eight years, he had the opportunity to speak to more than 100,000 people across 15 cities in more than 100 companies including top renowned corporations, Fortune 500 companies and global market leaders such as Shell, Petronas and Samsung. Featured on public speaking engagements such as TEDx, Astro Awani, Astro VBuzz and The Business Radio Station (BFM), Wesley is the only Experiential NLP Program with Complete Support System.
Lingesh Lechamanan, Head of Marketing at Shell Oman. Also known as Big Guru to those close to him, Lingesh is currently based in Muscat Oman. He feels very strongly about community work, on the side he runs a self-funded social enterprise named Blindsight Inc, with his parents who are visually impaired. Coming from a poor background, Big Guru also spends a lot of time reaching out to children from the urban community. He quotes ‘I would like to measure my success by what others have been able to achieve through me‘.
Kenneth Chan, Managing Director of Zappy Production. Kenneth’s journey as an advertising strategist started seven years ago when he first worked with a top five post-production in Malaysia. At some point, he started running an Instagram photo booth alongside his two other partners but decided that his future lies elsewhere and started his very own creative agency, Zappy. With his aim to create a service for marketers/advertising and promotion departments to show off their products or services through 3D/2D animation, Kenneth also provides innovative ways to market your products and services through events.
Dr. Mahendhiran Nair, Vice President (R&D) and Professor of Econometrics at Monash University Malaysia. He is well known in the community for his role in economic policy modelling for government agencies and many of his research has been used in both national and state economic plans and blueprints. A man who is deeply passionate about developing strategies to enhance translational R&D and educational innovations, he has contributed a lot to the growth of diverse communities in Malaysia.
K Nantha Kumar, Founder of Pulsy Technology. A cybersecurity, IR 4.0 and digital revolution enthusiast, he founded Pulsy Technology to forefront the ‘Smart Workspace Solution’ industry in Malaysia and ASEAN. Nantha also works a lot with universities and colleges to bring across real-time experience and knowledge to students and ultimately preparing them to the cyber world and creating awareness on how crucial cybersecurity is.
Soo Hoo, Licensed Master Trainer at MWS International and Master Trainer at Nexel Consultancy. He was the President of the Malaysian Association of Professional Trainers and Coaches (MAPTaC). Soo Hoo’s core areas are Subliminal Persuasion, Entrepreneurship and Mindset Breakthrough which he’s been doing since 2007. In recognition of his achievements and contribution Soo Hoo was awarded the prestigious Global Training & Development Leadership Award by The World HRD Congress in their Silver Jubilee Celebration.
Azreena Azizan, Founder of TechTarik Malaysia. TechTarik is a movement that aims to do serious journalism, written in clear, simple language, by knowledgeable editorial partners in local flavour – Bahasa Malaysia. TechTarik is in the midst of building the content and features through photo essays, reviews, and interactive digital experiences that invite readers to probe deeper, examine data, and get to know experts and their opinions to see, explore, and understand new technologies and their impact.
Saravanan Karumanan. Known to most people as SK, he is currently with Malaysia Airlines. Bringing with him a vast and diverse experience of 20 years in the HR industry, he is now championing the change in Malaysia Airlines. Very much known to the folks in the industry especially in the area of learning and development, SK places great emphasis on sustained high performance through well-developed productive teams. His motto is ‘Building a Winning Team’.
Melissa Chan, PR Advisor at EA Creative Media Relation. She has more than 10 years of working experience in marketing, branding and PR in the beauty industry. As a seasoned PR Advisor, her main focus is to help brands be featured in the media. Apart from that, she also does consultation for brand directions, positioning, marketing strategies, planning and PR related matters.
Vimala Suppiah, Executive Leadership Coach at GameChange Coaching Consultancy. Vimala is well known in the industry as an ICF Global Professional Certified Professional Coach – PCC and works with top leaders on team alignment and improved cross-functional business performance. Vimala also champions Diversity and Inclusiveness at the workplace and has many programs and talks on this area.
Hanniz Lam, Managing Partner at Best Events Productions. Best Events is a boutique corporate brand experience and cause marketing agency based in Kuala Lumpur. They help to create extraordinary moments and cause marketing campaigns (matching local causes to corporations’ CSR programs or company values through joined marketing campaigns). They bring customers closer to you through brand activations. Due to her love of connecting people and helping businesses see things in a different light, she hosts the Malaysia Entrepreneur Network (MEN) on Meetup.com voluntarily. The group now has 5000+ members with about 50 new and regular members meeting every 2nd Thursday of the month to catch up over drinks.
Vyasa Kandasamy, Founder of CAD Training Centre and Animagix Videos. He was the Co-Founder of the first privately owned microchip company in Malaysia, back in 2000, with offices in UK and Ireland. He is highly experienced in running businesses, the VC fundraising process and overseas expansion. Vyasa then went on to start and expand multiple businesses. Currently running 2 businesses – CAD Training Centre (Training Provider) and Animagix Videos (Animated Videos)
Ramya Balakrishnan, Director at People Possibilities Advisory. Ramya is now an entrepreneur and experimentalist after working in the corporate world for 10 years. She is also known for working on topics like Open Talent Economy, Future of Work models and cutting-edge research in HR labs. She is always creating awareness and sharing a lot on human capital and educating the public on these matters that mean a lot to her.
Vigneswaran Sivalingam, Globee GBS County Head for Malaysia. Vig is familiar to everyone in the area of Customer Experience and some of the other areas that he is known for are CX Continuous Improvement, CX Design & Innovations, Quality Assurance, Service Operations, Learning & Development, Retail Modernization, Channel Marketing, and Digital Transformation. He has well established himself in the community as a subject matter expert and is often sought after to speak in these areas.
Jimmy Lee, CEO at YummyLicious and Foodie Box. YummyLicious is an F&B startup that specialise in Asian burgers while Foodie Box is an e-commerce startup that provides healthy fast food made from natural ingredients.
Dr. Malar Velii Segarmurthy, Principal Assistant Director at the Health Policy Planning Unit, Planning Division of the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Coming from a strong medical background and being a Doctor herself, she is always raising awareness online especially on the challenges that many faces such as autism, cancer, palliative care, and human well being itself. She is also a speaker.
Hishamuddin Minhaj, Quantity Surveyor. He was a site quantity surveyor for a decade and was in highway construction. He had spent ten years developing and administering cost and contract management software. He self-taught himself ICT and held an IT Executive position for three years by managing domain servers, application servers, email servers, computer networks while also doing office administrator work. He was then transferred to a car park department where he managed a car park for about five years before returning to becoming a quantity surveyor.
Azad Jasmi, Business Coach and Corporate Trainer. His core competencies are within the areas of Entrepreneurships, Business Development and Strategic Planning for SMEs.
Masni Mustafa, Founder of Ken House Training and Services. She is currently full time into coaching, training and human resources consultancy and advisory. She has steered the human resources department for more than twenty years as a generalist and strategist. The types of industries Masni was exposed to and was involved in are manufacturing, resort or hotel, government-owned companies, and public listed companies. She was also involved in change management and academic development for the university.
Sunil Hasmukharay, Chief Strategist and Lead SF Coach at SF Academy. He was a Senior Executive in Project Management at Petronas for 10 years. His field of study was MBA Major in International Business at the University of Malaya.
Siti Mariam Samin, Founder and CEO of Meraki Groups and Urban Groove TM. Meraki Groups is a branding, marketing, and event management company while Urban Groove TM is a business and event interactive portal that integrates the latest info on technology and smart lifestyle. She’s also currently the Vice President of Awaken Grounds which is an Entrepreneur Business Platform. She has been elected to be one of the Influencer Ambassador for Spendless Cosmetics in Asia and Partnership Ambassador for Humanitarian Investing through Impact Private Equity activity led by the Chairman of United Impact Finance Initiative, UIF-I.
Sanmuga Thavamoorthy, Managing Editor at Vision Quest Asia, Consulting Associate at BEYOND99 Sdn Bhd. Sanmuga helps individuals, teams, and organisations find clarity in producing their own unique relatable stories by helping them engage their audience with high-quality content or any deliverables that will meet their desired objectives. He has an outstanding track record in leading and supporting projects throughout Southeast Asia through consulting and training solutions respectively.
Aditya Adri Saleh Rahim, Crisis Intervention and Communication Consultant. Known as Adit Rahim, his core competencies are in the subject of Corporate Communication and Public Relations. He is capable of making the daunting task of integrating the public or media relations, marketing communications, corporate communications, digital communications and effective communications, possible.
Evelyn Ch’ng, Principal Consultant at Emage Academy. Being trained by Lynne Marks – the past president of Association Image Consultants International (AICI) and the principal of London Image Institute, Evelyn is an award-winning image consultant. Among them are the ASEAN IN Award Top Personal Contribution Award Winner 2018/19 and Asia Top 10 Image Consultant Golden Bauhinia Tokyo Award Winner 2018. Besides working with celebrities such as Christy Chung, Lee Xin Jia, Amber Chia, Jojo Struys, Dato Jimmy Choo and many more high profile people, Evelyn has extensive experience helping entrepreneurs to empower their personal branding through her exclusive Empowerment Program.
Aimi Zulhazmi Abdul Rashid, Director for Strategic Project Office at Universiti Kuala Lumpur. Described more of a corporate person than academician, Aimi Zulhazmi thrives in the strategic thinking areas, looking at the big picture and thinking out of the box. Highly sought after by the mainstream media for his views on economic issues and financial market, attributable to his simple and logical explanation style. With 25 years of corporate experience, he joined Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in 2015 to share his knowledge in bridging the gap between the industry and the academic world.
Homam Alghorani, Founder of Wonderland Technologies. Known as “Hologram Man” then the “Messenger of Artificial intelligence”, he is the award-winning innovation expert in the areas of sci-fi solutions namely 3D Hologram, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and multi-touch interactive screens.
Mohana Arumugam, Corporate Communication Vice President at Credit Guarantee Corporation. Mohana has over 15 years of experience in investment banking, asset management, retirement planning, corporate communications and talent development. Prior to CGC, she was attached with CIMB-Principal Assets Management, a joint venture investment company between the CIMB Group and Principal Financial Group.
Lai Shyan Chin, Country Director of Blue Talent Consulting. BTC is an executive search and recruitment company located in India, Malaysia and Singapore. He has more than 14 years worth of working experience in the recruitment and information technology verticals.
Sumathi Krishnan, Principal Consultant at Stratford Training and Consultancy. Sumathi is a Professional Coach and Training Consultant who provides quality communication skills training to enhance individuals’ performance.
Dato’ Lawrence Low, Founding President of MyPerintis. Pertubuhan Perintis Malaysia is a passionate youth non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded to promote Youth Empowerment. With its core focus in education, employability and entrepreneurship, MyPerintis was sparked by the desire to inspire youth to rise above their challenges, to dare explore their maximum potential and to make an impact in the world that advocates meaningful and progressive change as caring and productive citizens.
Mior Nurzaidin Mior Khairudin, an Executive Recruiter, Financial Consultant and Investor. Almost all his LinkedIn updates are written in Bahasa Malaysia, in a way of asking questions that indirectly persuades his followers to engage.
Francis Xaviour Joe, General Manager for Asia, Africa and the Middle East for Accuvio Enterprise Sustainability Software. The software provides organisations with a reliable, consistent and compliant means of collecting sustainability & carbon emissions data from across the globe, and reporting it easily and quickly to stakeholders and regulatory bodies.
